A woman who was rushed to hospital in labour by two police officers has thanked them by naming her baby after them.

PCs James Ireland and Dan Bellingham were battling rush hour traffic on the A12 near Chelmsford earlier this month (December) when they were flagged down by a panicked couple.

They were told that the woman was in labour and that they were worried they wouldn't make it to hospital in time.

Quick to act, PC Ireland blue-lighted the expecting couple to hospital while PC Bellingham used his recently acquired knowledge of his own wife's labour to reassure the pair and alert the hospital how far along into labour she was.